Psycic Broadcasting

[Jonii]

I like the story to stand on its own, but as a note for those of you who may prefer one, here's a little background: The story is set during the events of HeartGold and SoulSilver. It focuses on three Team Rocket Grunts in the Kanto region preparing for their half of the Radio Tower scheme. This first page takes place just after the first successful test of the Rocket Rage Radio broadcasting that occurred at the Lake of Rage.

Note about me: I as a Pokémon fan love Mewtwo. Very much.
When the ball gets rolling, expect copious amounts of Mewtwo.

Page 1

Three Team Rocket Grunts sat inside of a house in Lavender City. Three years after Team Rocket was disbanded and their leader disappeared, executives began coming together to plan the organization's return.

"The trial was a success. With this plan, all of the Pokémon within earshot of a radio will begin to become filled with rage. The entire Johto region will be in a state of terror, their own Pokémon going mad and attacking them without holding back. I don't want to describe to you what kinds of horrors would occur, but that's the point," stated Nicholas, the one who was sitting by the window. His eyes were a reddish color, with lines of purple you could only see if you looked him in the eyes from a short distance.

Nicholas' short, red hair was hidden under his black cap. A large R, for "Team Rocket," could be seen in the middle of the cap. His gloved hands sat balled up together between his legs as he slouched in his chair, leaning in to tell everyone the news.

"The point is that the people will be desperate for a solution, and when that time comes, likely only hours after the broadcast goes out, we will essentially control the entire region. We will bring ourselves to glory through control, and unite the towns of the Johto region under a stable leadership. Hopefully, Giovanni's leadership." He paused and looked out the window. He gestured to the large Radio Tower.

Nicholas continued, saying, "We're here in Kanto preparing. Once the tower in Johto is secure and the signal goes out, we wait two hours before storming the radio tower. News of such importance will have spread to this region by the time we do, and we'll take advantage of all of the confusion. We're going to take the tower and send out the broadcast from here, as well. In less than a few hours, Team Rocket will control the entire coastal region."

"Any plans for the Sinnoh region?" asked Andrew, another young Team Rocket Grunt.

"Not at the moment. It's too far offshore for us to infiltrate quickly enough. We're spreading our numbers as thin as we can with this plan already. What the executives are predicting is that Giovanni will return to us. With two regions under our iron control, we're hoping he'll return to take command. The massive morale boost from that coupled with Team Rocket's new power should cause a huge increase in our numbers."

"Sounds good. Where do you hear all of this?"

"I'm in charge of mobilizing everyone. All of the executives are in Johto, so I'm temporarily in command. This should mean a pay raise... If I do a good job here, this seems like a definite promotion! And you know how my family back home could use that..."

"Yeah... I only had enough spare cash for three Pokéballs when I was younger, and all three failed to catch me a Pidgey.. Team Rocket provided me with Koffing here, though, which has made me a lot happier. I get to travel a lot, we get to stay in nice places, and no one outside knows I'm connected with anything the organization does. This whole thing's become a dream come true for me."

Andrew stretched out, keeping his eyes closed when he stopped, putting his head back and thinking of the people back home. He had a tan skin tone and blonde hair with green eyes, with round, youthful cheeks on a thin face. Koffing hovered over to him and started making slow circles around him. Nicholas got up to walk over to a pot of coffee and poured himself a mug of it before returning to his seat by the window. He turned to the third Grunt, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Hey, Gaile, you haven't spoken up once. Usually you're so up-beat," he said.

Gaile was the only female in the room. Her curly light brown hair sometimes fell over her dark brown eyes when she wasn't careful, resulting in a quick puff of air to blow it out of her eyes. Since joining Team Rocket, though, the cap usually held her hair in place. She seemed to be in a trance, seeming to be staring intently at a point in the space of the room that wasn't occupied by anything. She turned her head to Nicholas, pausing before she spoke.

"Sorry, I've just been wondering if this isn't the right thing to do. Nothing that comes of Team Rocket seems to be.. uh... good." she replied.

Nicholas stood up and gave her a stern look. "The right thing to do? I'm providing for the people I care about. Nothing else matters. Andrew's fulfilling his dreams. How is that not good?"

 

[Jonii]

Page 2

"I mean for the Pokémon. I was spending some time with Haunter today, and it acts like it has feelings... like it's beginning to care for me. I'm starting to wonder if all Pokémon shouldn't be cared for," Gaile said quietly. Nicholas stared at her for a second before taking another sip of coffee and looking out of the window again.

"We can protect our own Pokémon by being with Team Rocket," he said. He slowly turned his head back to Gaile, continuing, "Nothing matters more than protecting those you care about. If you can accomplish that, you've done the right thing. With the money I get here, I can provide for my elderly parents back at home. My father's only skill was in construction, and he's too old to do all of that heavy lifting now. He had a Machamp to help him, but he gave it to my brother, and I think I've vented enough about him running away to you two. Andrew's caring for himself and his Koffing with Team Rocket, so I don't see how that's a bad thing, either."

Gaile always found Nicholas' logic a little twisted, but he was stubborn and he seemed to have a point, so she decided not to argue. Andrew opened his eyes slightly, and tilting his head slightly in the direction of Nicholas, said, "I've wondered the same things, Nick. Don't tell me you never have." There was silence in the room.

No lights were on, and the sun was beginning to set. Everything in the room was a dim shade of orange or purple. Gaile's Haunter floated through the wall opposite the window. It closed its eyes and nodded once to Gaile.

"The rest of the forces they're allowing us to use are here," Gaile said to the rest of the people in the room.

Nicholas, Andrew, and Gaile took a few steps outside of the house. A Charmander was standing only a few meters away. It was very unusual for Pokémon to wander into towns, but Lavender Town was very small, so it was a little more common there. This Charmander was different from the others, though. It had dark stripes on its limbs, face, and back. Nicholas ran towards it, pulling out a Pokéball after shouting "This is rare! We need to capture it for Team Rocket! It could mean we'd be promoted to an elite squad status!" Before he could toss the ball, the Charmander spat out a short flame that caught on Nick's shoulder. He immediately fell to the ground in pain, rolling over to smother the fire. The Charmander turned around and ran. It was out of sight before the three Grunts could get their wits together.

"I need Burn Heal..." Nicholas said softly and hesitantly, clearly in pain.

Gaile and Andrew walked him to a Mart to get Burn Heal. They took off their caps and jackets before walking inside so that no one would notice who they were. When they got inside, the cashiers were counting the day's profits, the townspeople continued to look at the shelves, but the Pokémon they had with them looked directly at the three Grunts, never taking their eyes off of them. Their eyes were a plain, milk white, glowing a light blue color. Nicholas was too preoccupied with his burn to notice and Gaile was busy buying the Burn Heal, but Andrew saw the Pokémon as he glanced around the store. His eyes became wide, and he stood completely still. When the Grunts had bought the medicine, he urged them to leave quickly.

Soon, more Team Rocket members arrived at the house. They described to Nicholas that they had lost communications with a group from Pewter City that was also on its way to Lavender Town. Nicholas explained that with so few of them in Kanto, they could not afford to be a group short. All of them except Gaile began to make the trek to Cerulean City to try and meet up with the missing Team Rocket members. Their Pokémon all followed silently. Andrew was the only one who seemed concerned, constantly giving nervous glances to them, who simply walked or floated behind their trainers without a sound, looking straight forward. Gaile stayed behind to keep watch over the house and scout out the Radio Tower.

As the large group walked to Cerulean, they were not met with any encounters with hostile wild Pokémon. Just like the Pokémon from the Pokémart, they all stared at the Team Rocket members. This time, it was too obvious to ignore. They began to walk closer to one another now, and Andrew pushed himself into the middle of the group. He was on the verge of panic at this point. The Pokémon were behaving incredibly strangely. Some Team Rocket members were overjoyed at this behavior, taking cheap shots with their Pokéballs to catch them when they wouldn't fight back. Much to their surprise, the few who tried to catch them were met with a fight. The wild Pokémon proved uncatchable and incredibly strong for some reason.

When at last they made it to Cerulean City, days had passed. The city could be seen in the distance, and one Team Rocket member could be seen walking towards the group from it. When he arrived, he seemed confused. He explained that he had just woken up in a nearby field. Days ago, his group had decided to stop and rest somewhere, but he could not remember where.